Skip to main content

Chosen to Love


Today, my pastor said something profound that was also very simple. That he was chosen to go and love. That he was placed where he was and when he was to love the broken. If we lived like that, like our one purpose in life was just to love, how beautiful this world would be.

It also challenged me to think beyond myself, to not see the personal gain or advantage in what I do. I'm at a place professionally where I feel the need and desire for growth. But what if I am placed where and when I am just to love others? To help them feel safe, to help them grow, to teach, to comfort, to love. The young adults I serve every day come with high hopes and expectations for themselves that often fall short within months of their first year in college. Some grow depressed, hopeless, stressed, frustrated. Many walk into my office just wondering what they will become. What an amazing opportunity for me to show them grace and hope. And I wonder, how many times I may have missed the mark because instead I wanted to show them how much I knew or all the things they can do to further themselves. I missed the intersection of hearing and loving. 

I am always thinking ahead. It is in my very nature. And while it can sometimes be a useful trait, it can also cause me to live outside of the moment. I'm constantly checking myself - "am I hearing what they're saying or am I thinking about what I'm going to say next?" Or "am I appreciating the beauty around me or am I thinking about all the things I could have done better today?"

And to go a step further, I think it's important to note that I was not chosen for my job because I was the very best. It was a series of meetings, circumstances and divine decisions that brought me to where I am. And I will work hard, do what I can to get better, learn, grow - and some of that will occur consciously and some will be organic over time. But what it so valuable is knowing that I was chosen, not just for my qualifications, but for something more. Maybe I was chosen by the Divine to love. 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How does she do it?

I just began a new job. Newness is not something uncommon to me, but I am feeling a little shaken out of the comfortable situation I maintained over the past four years. "This is good for me" I repeat over and over again. And I have to say, I have never been happier at a job. But each day, I am learning there is something else I don't know. I wonder why it is that as women we believe that we must be the experts, whether it is the expert mother, the expert housekeeper or the expert professional. It is as if these titles define who we are and so we must be the very best. And what's worse is that we aren't just trying OUR best, we are competing against our friends or celebrities that we follow on Instagram. You know, those perfect moms who do everything organic and their craft times are on point. Or maybe that business owner on LinkedIn who perfectly balances her financial statements in one hand and a toddler in the other. How does she do it? And we feel gu...
Post a Comment
Read more

Woman's Worth

Luke 8:1-3 (NLT) 8 Soon afterward Jesus began a tour of the nearby towns and villages, preaching and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom of God. He took his twelve disciples with him, 2 along with some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases. Among them were Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons; 3 Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s business manager; Susanna; and many others who were contributing from their own resources to support Jesus and his disciples. Jesus broke down cultural norms and invited women to follow him - women that the religious people of his time may have looked down upon. These were the ones he called and used for a mighty purpose. And he called them BY NAME at a time when women were not deemed worthy to even be mentioned in historic literature. Ladies, we are called with a purpose by a God who knows our faults and our past and our names. We are valuable to Him.
Post a Comment
Read more

Growth Mindset

Today I participated in a webinar about "Growth Mindsets". Essentially, if you believe that you (and others) can do anything if you work hard enough, then you have a "growth mindset". The theory revolves around mentorship and modeling this in your life. One of the resources provided centered around reframing mistakes. The text explained how young people can often feel like mistakes they make are "catastrophic". I can still remember that one of my most embarrassing moments in grade school was based on a silly little oral reading error. To sum it up, I pronounced the silent "s" in "Arkansas". Which means, yes, I swore. Out loud. In front of the entire class and my teacher. I was mortified. Growing up in a more impoverished city, I had a lower quality education. However, I took advantage of all opportunities and read everything I could get my hands on. Jane Austen was (and still is) my very favorite author. I used to read British c...
Post a Comment
Read more